A Day of Milestones

A kiss may be just a kiss but not when it's from your newly adopted 8 year old.  Then it's a milestone and a heartwarming, fireworks deserving sort of occasion.  She offered a kiss to me this afternoon so I took it on the cheek and she accepted one in return.  When I asked her if she'd give one to Baba, too, she was happy to pucker up.  I saw tears in his eyes, and the two of us shared what a huge breakthrough it was.  When we got together later with the rest of the people in our travel group, I shared the word with one other person, and the good news spread through the group.  We've all watched most of the children change right before our eyes over the days we have been together, and it's a wonderful thing to witness. 

We had a great time playing in the room today, many of the childhood standards: piggybacks and giddy up horsey among them.  What you have to remember is that these are wildly entertaining to someone who has made it past her 8th birthday without ever having played them before.  The favorite game right now is something we call hucheelai.  We asked our coordinator if she knew what something that sounds like that means, and, if I remember correctly, it's something like I don't want to stand up.  It involves us picking her up off the floor by her arms  You wouldn't even dream that something like that could be such fun, but it certainly is.  After several rounds of that we spend the rest of the afternoon saying, "No more hoocheelai," because I'm telling you it's hard to quit once you get started.  Give it a try.

This afternoon at 3:00, we all loaded onto two buses and rode to the American Consulate breezing past the long lines of people without US passports waiting to get to the correct windows to request visas.  Once inside they matched our faces to our passports and to the faces of the children we adopted.  A very nice woman spoke to us, and she even announced that there were a number of August birthdays to be celebrated in the group.  She then read the names of the children born in August.  When she read Maryn's name, all eyes in the room turned in our direction, and she may not have understood why, but she had a big smile when everyone said, "Yay!"  What a nice touch from a government worker.  She told us what would happen when we landed on American soil with our kids, and then we raised our right hands and swore or affirmed that all the information we had presented was true to the best of our knowledge.  But the best thing she said was, "Your work is done."  All the paperwork, all the updates, all the fingerprints, etc., It was quite a moment, and it makes me tear up just thinking about it.  No pictures from the occasion because you aren't allowed to take cameras inside the building, but the memory of it is etched in my brain.

Some of the families departed after today's ceremony.  The bus stopped at the train station so they could catch a train to Hong Kong.  Although it's hard to say goodbye, at this point nothing sounds sweeter than your own voice saying goodbye.

Today's photos were taken on Shamian Island.  The US Consulate was located there until recently, and that's where the White Swan Hotel, a current and former mecca for adoptive families, is located.  The physical examination is done on Shamian Island and there are many shops there catering to adoptive families and anyone else who has $ in their pockets.  Bargaining is expected and encouragement to come into the stores should be expected by you as well.